Fan #14: Hi there. So my question was about how you said there are two timelines like he, like Garrosh brings the Draenor from the past to the present. So the characters that like Garrosh and Thrall are related to and Grom and Durotan, are they going to learn something about their heritage history or their past because it is a separate, you know now that they brought in you said it’s got nothing to do with our worlds history, you know. Garrosh didn’t know his father, Thrall didn’t really know his father that much you know in that way. So how are they going to be impacted by seeing their family members that they never knew?

Metzen: So that’s, that’s a really good question and that is one of my favorite things about choosing to go in this direction is Thrall didn’t yet know his parents at all. He was an infant when he was kind of left, you know, was found more the point by Mr. Blackmore. Garrosh is the same way, he didn’t really know his dad or whatever. Look at that, you know look at that continuity like this is just core throughout this whole thing and even though the instances may be different obviously both of these orcs are going back as grown men and engaging, you know their parents really almost like at this as and when they were young you know or in their prime what a fascinating experiment right. And it’s all about that like obviously these situations would never have naturally occurred but there’s so much for these guys to learn about their folks and about where they come from even in tough situations are totally different than anything that might have happened, the core of those people is still the same, you know. Durotan, Draka, you know even Grommash. Like they’re going to react through the character, you know and I think these two orcs, you know Garrosh and Thrall are going to come away hugely affected by what they find. Maybe may not match what they always thought. If I’m Thrall and I am going back in time — is Durotan really a noble dude, always in noble because the situation demanded that he be noble. He didn’t want his clan to get, you know, fel corrupted.

So these are all the really interesting questions we ask is we dig into these lores, we dig into the possible storylines and I think it, for me that’s the root of it. Write the opportunity to really dig in there and change these guys and how they look at things? I will be honest with you from the Thrall storyline we attempted to do something during cataclysm which was, my friends will tell me was a little touchy feely and maybe didn’t work very well from MMORPG, right? Maybe the game doesn’t have enough subtlety for where we tried to go with Thrall, you know, like an internal cataclysm. He is really losing his identity. Really got a grip to figure out what it is about, and look at all the calamity that ensued. But I’ll tell you what. Thrall is going back to Frostfire, and meeting his dad and meeting his family and (spoilers) his uncles, right, and a much larger tapestry of Frostwolves, and just seeing how badass they were, this is what you need, this is the vacation that Thrall needed to pull it together and remember who he is.

Fan #14: Durotan and Grom, they’re pretty much the same people.

Metzen: Yeah that character is pretty much the same, you know what I mean. Everyone is going to be challenged, everyone will be changed a little bit by these events but, yeah we’re going off the presumption that it’s really the core of the character even if the situations may be a little different.

Fan #14: Thank you.

Afrasiabi: Thanks.

Fan #15: Hi guys. My question has to do with the weebly-wobbly timey-winy as someone mentioned earlier. You said that this isn’t going to affect our current time line but is there a chance of exploring alternate realities based on what will change in this expansion.

Afrasiabi: Yes.

Fan #15: All right.

Afrasiabi: We will probably do something like that. And it does, it affects our current timeline but in, as Thomas (Chilton) was saying, in the present. Right? So these iron Horde guys is going to come through, they are going to stomp on people in our Azaroth and we need to stop that from happening. But it definitely does set opportunity.

Chilton: Yeah, I think the clarification there is a, it does affect our current timeline. What it does not affect is past history, right. History is not undone for our timeline. But certainly there are Iron Horde orcs coming through this portal.

Fan #15: Thank you so much.

Fan #16: Hello, my question is regarding Zaela and the Dragonmaw. While we see the Dragonmaw clan and Zuluhed the Whack in this expansion, does Zaela survive from the Siege of Orgrimmar? Is she pregnant with Garrosh’s kid? What’s up with the Dragonmaw?

Kosak: So, Zaela definitely survived the siege and obviously she’s cast her lot in with Garrosh. Then the question does she go through with him and I don’t remember if we have decided that yet.

Afrasiabi: She does, yeah. At some point she does go back.

Kosak: Yeah. She’s there with Garrosh back in Draenor. So we are going to find Zaela again.

Fan #15: And we will see the past Dragonmaw clan and Zuluhed the Whack?

Metzen: Honestly, we haven’t talked all that much about the Dragonmaw so far. But I would say that, that is a possibility. There is a lot of like kind of second tier orc clans that all are pretty cool kids but we have..

Kosak: More importantly there’s no native dragons on Draenor. So that whole clan identity wouldn’t have existed until later on.

Metzen: In effect, what they’re saying is — he wishes that I hadn’t made them up anyway back in Warcraft II, and sometimes I wish I hadn’t either. So we don’t know exactly what we’re going to do with them.

Fan #15: OK.

Fan # 16: Hi guys. Dovetail on the question about Zaela going through, I want to get into the feminine side of the orcs. Obviously, you’ve mentioned we’re probably going to see Draka — Thrall’s mom.

Kosak: Absolutely.

Fan # 16: Are we going to see Geyah. Thrall’s grandma? She going to be around still?

Kosak: Yeah, she is alive. yeah.

Fan #16: Fantastic.

Kosak: I think she is mother, instead of great mother at this point. Yeah?

Metzen: She is not so great. Yeah.

Fan #16: And since Zaela is possibly going to be going through with Garrosh, is Aggra going to be going with Thrall and Thrall’s little one?

Afrasiabi: No, I don’t know.

Metzen: Their honeymoon is over. This is more of a boy’s trip.

Fan #16: Got you bro. There you go. And then the last question I’ve got about that is, what about Garona? Are we going to see her?

Afrasiabi: Yes.

Fan #16: Fantastic, thanks guys.

Kosak: Thank you.

Fan #17: My question is basically around the age of Grom Hellscream, how he seems to stop aging at some point. The book “Rise of the Horde” he seems to be shoulder-to-shoulder with Durotan like in that rogue’s gallery pic — which is awesome by the way. But in Warcraft III he is shoulder-to-shoulder with Thrall and not looking any older. So he looks kinda–

Metzen: He is definitely an older guy. At least 20 years older than Thrall in Warcraft III. He has got good genes, right. So it isn’t like he has grey in the hair — like some people. But yeah, I know he’s clearly twice as old, maybe “clearly” isn’t all that clear. But in my opinion and I wrote it, he’s definitely, he could be Thrall’s dad, and that was the nature of —

Kosak: Do you want to talk about Grommash. He is definitely a young guy, back on Draenor. You want to talk about his history — like his whole thing. Dude is like a rockstar back on Draenor. I mean, he is in charge of the wolf riders, he is kind of the head of this Mongol cavalry that can just strike viciously at the ogres and then runaway. I mean, he is living large, he is partying, he is a serious guy, it is kind of Grommash’s background.

Metzen: And then things go terribly wrong.

Kosak: Yeah.

Fan #17: Thanks. And Rexxar’s Origin story please.

Fan #18: Alright guys, my first question is you said that the timeline is before “Rise of the Horde“, but Durotan’s dad dies during the book.

Korsak: So Rises of the Horde encompasses a big chunk of timeline.

Metzen: Let’s be clear. What we mean by that is before these guys march to the Dark Portal and invade Azeroth, that’s what that means. Before the critical events arising, they begin to move.

Garrosh goes back two years or so, maybe two or three years before they drink the blood of Mannoroth. So, if he goes back, starts manipulating things and then things will change from there.

Fan # 18: Okay and my other thing is, Is the Burning Legion guy going to show up?

Kosak: Yeah, well, Gul’dan is still on the telephone with him, so. (him = Medivh)

Metzen: (mimics talking over the phone as if Gul’dan was speaking with Medivh) Gul’dan: “Don’t worry, I am going to take care of it, don’t worry.” Medivh: “Kill the hell’s pigs” Gul’dan: “I got it.”

Chilton: On the wolf.

Kosak: Thank you for your question.

Fan #19: Oh yeah, I had a question about Sylvanas. She is clearly still resurrecting dead bodies, taking more land. Maybe at the end of Patch 5.4 we get to get Gilneas back but no one else seems to notice and if we are going to be going to Draenor are we going to be taking care of her, is she going to become more of the spotlighted character, what’s going on with her?

Afrasiabi: Yes. No. I mean we all love Sylvanas. And I think we like to leave her kind of crafting and doing wicked terrible things in the background. So one day she may, you know do something terrible and we will have to deal with it. But for now she is OK.

Chilton: There will be a day which she will featured here. That’s an awesome character that we all really like and there is going to be a time where she will be in the spotlight.

Kosak: There will be some sort of reckoning.

Afrasiabi: Yeah.

Metzen: The last thing she wants to do is go to a planet full of bunch of orcs.

Afrasiabi: Yeah.

Metzen: She, does not care.

Afrasiabi: Not interested.

(NOTE: Are they throwing red herring for Sylvanas rising the Warlords in Outland later? Remember they talked about that earlier but decided to go with timetravel instead?)